Get an N900. I've had an iPod touch for close to a year and a BB curve 8900 for 1.5 year. I still use the former for music, but no longer for browsing or apps and I've entirely replaced the latter. As a developer there are just layers and layers of goodies to be found. Hint: forget about the Ovi and Maemo Select pointers pre-packaged on the phone and go straight to maemo.org for apps, that's where the interesting stuff for a techie is. The only caveat here that you have to be aware is that Nokia has folded all Maemo efforts into MeeGo (a merge with Intel's Moblin.) So to an extent there seems to be an evolutionary disconnect, but keep in mind that the N900 is THE device used by MeeGo dev teams (a slew of people from Intel and Nokia).
Android is still very much on my radar but for purely professional reasons. The fact of the matter is that having used Linux since '95 there is nothing in that environment that even closely resembles a Linux environment, despite it using the Linux kernel (i.e. the user-space has nothing to do with a classic Linux user-space.) In addition, while their platform is "open", their development process isn't. IOW, you get code-drops every so often with no possibility of participating and/or looking into the bleeding edge. Meego, on the other hand, has been engineered with that in mind.
If my father called, and asked me what smartphone to get, I'd suggest an Android device.
If an old friend called, who happened to be familiar with Linux, I'd advise the N900 with no reservations. The N900 is more open than Android in that it uses the traditional APIs used on the Linux desktop. You can install pidgin, irssi, otr, asterisk, and just about everything else that is popular with Linux. It even comes with an xterm app by default.
The N900 also has incredible integration with Skype, including video. It also supports adding SIP accounts. Both Skype and SIP work very well over 3G on T-Mobile US.
> Both Skype and SIP work very well over 3G on T-Mobile US.
Interesting, where? I have an N900 on T-Mobile in Boston and it's been very disappointing. I had visions of a "data only" relationship with the phone, but neither Skype nor SIP over 3G are of acceptable quality. Over wifi, works pretty well, though.
How have you set yours up? I tried Google Voice -> Gizmo5, buying a skype number, and some other things and nothing worked. For instance, the phone can't seem to handle an incoming SIP call and phone call at the same time -- so I couldn't forward my Google Voice number to both my actual cell number and SIP, and answer with either depending on the situation.
Then, I have general issues with the phone -- no good maps solution (the Nokia program is terrible, and can't use Google Maps), email is painfully slow to open and inconsistent about polling every 5 minutes like I want it to, I've hung up on incoming calls several times because the "Answer" button gets replaced by the "Hang up and send a text message" button when I'm taking it out of my pocket, etc.
All in all, I've been somewhat disappointed with the phone.
I'm currently in Northwest Arkansas. Skype calls work just about as well as SIP calls over 3G, which is to say the same quality as regular calls over GSM. I've used my old Gizmo account with SIP, as well as Callcentric and Skype. No issues.
With respect to maps and email, you have a point. The N900 is not up to speed there.
It's a good geek phone, but not something I'd recommend to my parents.
I can't comment on SIP because I haven't used it (yet) on the phone. For the map, though, there is Sygic's app: http://www.sygic.com/. The app itself is free from OVI, but the maps you have to buy :( Still looks like this would do a decent job. I'm actually going to try it on a trip next week.
I have an N900 and I love it, but I don't know if I would recommend it.
Firstly its quite large (not an issue for me) and doesn't work in portrait mode very well. Its not really a phone per say its more of a tablet that can make phone calls. The screen while fine is not as sharp or nice looking as either a HTC Desire or iPhone 4. Lastly its resistive which can be a plus or minus depending on your point of view.
Now that said, it plays fine with Linux since it just mounts as another drive. You don't really need to connect it to anything since you can sync podcasts and the like over wifi or your data connection. You can run almost any software you want on it. Development using Python is a breeze. You can ssh in and use it as a mobile workstation. The browser is a real browser and websites display as would on your desktop pc.
I think the real test for the N900 will be if MeeGo works out to be any good for it. I have high hopes though :)
Both of my officemates got the N900 right when in came out in the US. They were very happy with it for the first month or so. They are now very jealous of my Nexus One. I think mostly because of the app selection and overall phone quality.
I have been running Linux exclusively since the late 90's and considered a Maemo phone, but decided to go with Android because I thought that it would have much more momentum and my phone using life would be easier.
I'm still wondering what Posterous plans to do when they reach enough of a critical mass that spammers will actively try to impersonate existing accounts. Generalized, non-sender-server-enforced sender authentication does not exist. That's why SPF and DKIM came along ... I'm sure they've had to pour over this. Anyone have a link on design/discussion?
Android is still very much on my radar but for purely professional reasons. The fact of the matter is that having used Linux since '95 there is nothing in that environment that even closely resembles a Linux environment, despite it using the Linux kernel (i.e. the user-space has nothing to do with a classic Linux user-space.) In addition, while their platform is "open", their development process isn't. IOW, you get code-drops every so often with no possibility of participating and/or looking into the bleeding edge. Meego, on the other hand, has been engineered with that in mind.